 May 2001 Archive
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11:32 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Mystic Eye has a new D&D creature for all of you still chomping at the bit for Nightmares & Dreams. This time, it's the Dream Elemental, a sweet and loving creature that wants to cuddle (Yeah, right). They've also posted additional web enhancements for The Pit of Loch-Durnan, including detailed descriptions of some of the locals, and some errata. They're Misguided, But Illustrated Nicely
11:47 AM: Mike Sugarbaker says... But there is some gaming news today - Wingnut Games sends us the following: "The RPGA has approved and officially sanctioned the first Battle Cattle live action scenario. "Let Loose the Sheep of War" (by Don Bingle and Tom Prusa) will be available for all RPGA-related conventions, but will be making its debut at BENCON June 7th to June 10th in Aurora, Colorado." God help us all.
11:33 AM: Mike Sugarbaker says... Just a note to say that the reason posts have been so sporadic over the past week is that we've been working on yet another cool thing, in addition to the cool thing I mentioned last week. That's just how much cool is headed your way. So assume the position and steel yourself!
11:50 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Skotos.net has scored another victory by becoming the new home of Biting the Hand. Jessica Mulligan's Biting the Hand column, formerly found at Happy Puppy, was created to discuss and dissect the online gaming industry. According to Mulligan, when she first started the column "The hype and disinformation surrounding online games was as thick as pea soup. An industry insider needed to break through the hype and tell it like it really was, no holds barred." The column will continue to be published biweekly at Skotos.
11:48 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Tyranny Games and Precedence Studios announced the existence of basic Trainer sets for their upcoming tabletop wargame, Sack Armies: Expeditionary Force. You can find the Trainer set on sackarmies.com and Precedence's site as a .pdf file. Learn the game before it's released! Be the envy of your friends! Umm... have some ice cream! We'll have more on Sack Armies here in the weeks to come.
11:25 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Okay, so this isn't gaming related. In fact, I remain convinced that a direct translation of The X-Files into an RPG wouldn't work very well. However, as a long-time fan of the show, and a fan of decent spin-offs like The Lone Gunmen, I must say I completely disagree with Fox's decision to cancel Gunmen. If you feel the same, email Fox and beg them not to give up so soon on Byers, Langly and Frohike.
03:42 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Though there aren't any official Land of Og miniatures (yet), Wingnut Games has come up with a short list of officially sanctioned Reaper minis that can satisfy your club-swinging needs. Here's the lowdown, from Aldo Ghiozzi himself:
03:53 AM: Demian Katz says... Gary Chalk, the illustrator of the first eight Lone Wolf gamebooks, has at last been contacted by Project Aon, the online republishers of the classic series. To everyone's joy, he has given permission for his artwork to be included in the online reprints! Although the exact date on which his illustrations will be posted online hasn't been announced yet, it will be a great day for the Lone Wolf community and will add a great deal of flavor to the web-based adventures. At this point, nearly everyone involved in the development of the Lone Wolf series has been found; all that's missing now are the rights to books 21 through 28 and permission to use illustrations from the four World of Lone Wolf books. Piecepack Support Continues to Grow
11:57 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Several new maps have gone up at Glorantha.com, including the Colymar territory, Slontos, and the Shadow Plateau. There's also a detailed guide on traveling through the Harda Pass. I love this stuff.
10:57 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Fiery Dragon Productions has just become the second company to have its D20 products distributed under White Wolf's Sword & Sorcery imprint. The first Fiery Dragon adventure that will bear the S&S logo, Nature's Fury, will arrive in August. Boy, White Wolf's sure building up steam with their D20 projects. They've got D20 Ravenloft through Arthaus, they distribute for Necromancer and Fiery Dragon, and they've got Sword & Sorcery doing the Scarred Lands. How long until they try to buy Elminster? A Peek at Mystic Eye
12:06 PM: Mike Sugarbaker says... Apparently I have to post something to get Blogger to behave. So I'll just tease you with the knowledge that we at OgreCave are soon beginning development on something so cool that it will make your eyes pop out and roll under the entertainment center, where you won't be able to reach them. Okay.
11:54 AM: Mike Sugarbaker says... ICv2 reports that a company called United Playtest will be publishing a magazine of D20-related reviews and materials, probably called Gaming Frontier, starting in December, with a preview available at Gen Con. This is, of course, in addition to Corsair's recently announced Campaign magazine. What I like best in this article is the side note about "softening of sales on new d20 products [...] it's likely that this has as much to do with the proliferation of such products as it does with any change in the actual demand." Well, um, yeah... the "proliferation of such products" would be called supply, right? That whole... supply and demand... thing. Word.
11:21 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... To steel us against the dread creatures about to be unleashed in Legions of Hell, Green Ronin has posted a three page preview of the infernal beasts we can expect. Forewarned is forearmed, my friends. Best to arm yourselves against the coming of Hell in Freeport.
10:53 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... As a proponent of good role-playing games, I try not to discriminate against computer RPGs. After all, tabletop RPGs are rapidly coming to rely on having a PC nearby. A few computer games are even starting to learn that having character advancement, monsters and treasure doesn't automatically mean a role is being played. Skotos Tech has already proven they understand how role-playing should be with Castle Marrach. They're currently running beta-testing for their latest creation, a hybrid strategy game/RPG called Galactic Emperor: Succession. The competitive sci-fi setting of Succession involves equal parts political maneuvering and resource management, and the empire's in such upheaval that a new emperor is voted in every Saturday. With the right promises to the right people, maybe you could be in control of the empire... for a week, at least.
03:13 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Now that my daughter's 2nd birthday went without a hitch, I'll get back to business. Let's see... As we reported last week, Necromancer Games will be working with Rob Kuntz, co-founder of Dungeons & Dragons, on several upcoming projects. To give us an idea of things to come, a new Rob Kuntz page has been added to the Necromancer site. The new page already boasts a free download of To the City of Brass, an AD&D tournament module for character levels 7-10, originally intended for the RPGA. This adventure's been circulating on the web for a while now, but you can grab theis slightly updated version and be ahead of the game. Rune RPG Released D20 Ravenloft Update
11:53 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Rob Kuntz, the third founder of the original Dungeons & Dragons, will be lending his support to Necromancer Games' slogan, "Third Edition Look, First Edition Feel," with several D20 adventures. Starting with reworked versions of Kuntz's Maze of Zayene series (which will be extended with a brand new fifth adventure, Hidden Realms of Zayene), the products will continue with the never-published City of Brass epic adventure series, and an updated version of Garden of the Plantmaster. If the City of Brass sounds familiar, pull out your 1st Edition Dungeon Master's Guide. That's it on the back cover. Gaming in Ernest
01:12 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Months after Wizards of the Coast decided to stop publishing Legend of the Five Rings game products, Alderac Entertainment Group has gained the licence to publish the L5R CCG. AEG is the perfect company to take over L5R, as they were the ones who created it in 1995. John Zinser, President of AEG, said "This deal with Wizards of the Coast is the culmination of several months of work... and means that L5R collectible card game fans will see new product as early as July." The licence gives AEG the rights to the non-electronic games, meaning the CCG, RPG and miniatures game. This is a triumph for fans of L5R, and us Cave Dwellers are happy to see things worked out.
02:35 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... The guys at Necromancer Games just added another free supplement to their product support page. This time, Crucible of Freya, Necromancer's first D&D 3 product to be sold in stores, receives the extra attention. The download includes 23 pages of ideas, maps, and encounters to expand the adventure, and has some great new artwork. As always, you'll need the Product Update Password from your copy of Crucible to get the download.
04:31 AM: Demian Katz says... Invisible City Productions, the diversified organization which has been bringing a new free game to the Internet every month for quite some time now, has done it again. This month's offering is Lilypad, a two-player Checkers variant in which two fairies race across a pond filled with frogs and turtles. Check it out, and while you're there, be sure to investigate the site's numerous other offerings.
04:01 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Another week has come, heralding another issue of Roleplaying Tips. This week's theme? "7 More Ways You Can Make Travel Interesting Or Important." Have a look, you aspiring travel agent, you.
04:00 PM: Mike Sugarbaker says... White Wolf co-founder Mark Rein-Hagen's new company Atomoton updated their site recently with some visuals of the "InterACTION" figures that integrate with the card play in their upcoming game Z-G. The report that ICV2 posted a few days ago is sketchy about gameplay, but hopefully it's a little more involved than it sounds, and the figures aren't actually just glorified life counters. Okay, wait - clicking through the Flash on Atomoton's site sort of implies there's a positional aspect to the figures as well. The figures look great in any case, and this one will definitely be interesting... (Can I just say how much I like ICV2? Great-looking, one-stop geek shopping! Woohoo!)
03:52 PM: Mike Sugarbaker says... FFG has expanded their page for the upcoming Twilight Imperium-inspired disk game Armada, with lots of Flash, story material and a PDF of the complete rules. We haven't inspected it in detail, but if you want to see where disk games are going as badly as we do, you should.
09:51 AM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Though not directly gaming related, I thought you'd want to know that the great Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, has passed away. He died of a heart attack last Friday. You can read more about his passing here. Farewell, Doug. You were one hoopy frood, who really knew where his towel was.
04:16 AM: Demian Katz says... Lore Gaming, the future publisher of the Lore line of thematically-related role-playing games, has been rebuilding its website for quite some time now, but the redesigned pages are nearly done. By late afternoon tomorrow, the site should have a new look and contain lots of information on several forthcoming releases: Lore: Uprising (a science-fantasy game), Lore: Origins (a pure-fantasy prequel to Lore: Uprising) and Lore: Hunters (a modern-day horror RPG). Just remember that if you follow any of the links in this article before Sunday afternoon, it's entirely possible that they won't be completely done yet! Mythrole: Merchants Ready for Business
11:53 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Wizards has posted a teaser page for this year's GenCon to lure you in with all the Star Wars events they have scheduled. If you desperately want to meet Billy Dee Williams, or just want to get in on some lightsaber swinging action, head over to the site. While you're there, be sure to download a copy of the short Star Wars adventure, The Storm's Edge, created as a supplement to Secrets of Tatooine.
04:19 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... QuikLink Interactive and Far Future Enterprises announced their plans to publish D20 Traveller, bringing the veteran sci-fi setting to today's most popular system. So what's left? Once the World of Darkness and GURPS cross over, we'll be able to translate almost any character from one system to another. Nevermind why, just be glad you can. :-)
03:19 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... In August, Corsair Publishing, LLC will publish the first issue of Campaign Magazine, a D20 System publication. Each issue will contain two adventures and two articles centered on the issue's theme. The rest of the magazine will be packed with reviews and news about everything D20. Seems like a project that's long overdue. We'll be watching for it. Dream Creature Freed at Mystic Eye
02:34 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Misguided Games has the first bit of new artwork from the Children of the Sun RPG. The set of sketches shows the Avendera, a leonine race that looks like a cool choice to play.
10:23 AM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Does an order of broiled fae medallions in honey sauce sound... weird? Well, Kenzer & Company's game of cannibalistic fairy combat, Fairy Meat, is in the news again. The Miniatures Page has images of the greens for the new miniatures. More greens of Gremlin and Gnome figures are expected in the weeks to come. Fairy Meat was my Weird Game Award winner at last year's Dragon*Con, so I highly recommend you check it out.
11:55 PM: Mike Sugarbaker says... " 'I think this product will stop men thinking of women as the weaker sex.' said Louis Porter, Jr., President & CEO of Louis Porter, Jr. Design." Hey, that's nothing - we're working on a D20 adventure that's going to cure lupus. [insert knee-slap here] But seriously, folks: this sounds like a great product and a great idea. Given all the talk that online forums have seen for the past several years about the way women in role-playing (characters as well as players) get short shrift, it's surprising that commercial products didn't recognise the market faster. More evidence of how the gaming industry fails to listen to its consumers, or just more evidence of sexism? Or do I just need to get back on the meds? Get all the details at LPJ Design (but what's up with those release dates?).
11:41 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... For those of you who remember the two AD&D boxed sets detailing Undermountain, the immense dungeon under Waterdeep in the Forgotten Realms, Wizards has posted details on an old friend. Halaster Blackcloak, the mad archmage who created the deadly caverns and still wanders them, has thirty levels to his name. He also sports the latest in new classes (Archmage, for example) from the upcoming Forgotten Realms Campaign book. Dead Weird D20 As for Weird Wars, the seventh update shows us some greens for the Weird Wars miniatures. Another playtest session is also described, confirming that the vehicle and combat rules are fully functional. A change to the language rules is mentioned that makes hiding behind enemy lines considerably more realistic... and risky.
01:39 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... This August, Steve Jackson Games will be relaunching the Car Wars line, starting with a new edition of Car Wars: The Card Game. As part of the second wave of products, SJ Games will work with Wingnut Games to bring you Battle Cattle: The Card Game in September. The two companies announced their joint licencing agreement earlier today, the first step toward better cow/car relations. While we don't have details on the Car Wars game yet, we can tell you Battle Cattle will be in full-color, have six cow cards and 112 Moo-ve cards, and a rules sheet. And yes, they've even answered the question you dared not ask, for fear you would jinx it: "the two games will be completely compatible, allowing you to take your souped-up hot rods out gunning for Bessie... but this time, Bessie shoots back!"
01:12 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... French RPG site Roliste.com has named their Grog D'or (Game of the Year): Blue Planet v2 by Fantasy Flight Games. This is an impressive victory for FFG, considering that Blue Planet was up against such heavy hitters as Call of Cthulhu, Conspiracy X, Feng Shui, and Herowars. The win is even more impressive when you find out that Blue Planet hasn't been translated into French yet. Must be a damn good system if they're learning English just to play it.
07:52 AM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Rumors have it that Journeyman Press will be releasing Ebay: The Card Game this September. The furious bidding and selling should follow shortly thereafter.
07:28 AM: Allan Sugarbaker says... The folks over at Gamegrene.com have an interview with the infamous 9th Level Games crew, creators of Kobolds Ate My Baby. Go read how the popular weird RPG resulted from a drunken bet, and several other interesting tidbits. The best thing about KAMB, other than death by spontaneous combustion, is paying tribute to the kobold king. All hail King Torg!
02:07 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... John Kovalic has posted the entire Dork Tower 12-page storyline, Matt & Gilly's Big Date. The strip is nominated for an Origins Award this year, so go check it out. As an added bonus, you'll learn of the heartbreak of gamer love unfulfilled.
01:27 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... This week's issue of Roleplaying Tips continues the theme of using names to enhance your game. Though I hope my games never require the use of a stopwatch to speed things up, the other tips are quite useful, as usual.
11:17 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says...
11:06 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Citizen Games has updated their site with both D20 and non-D20 items. We're given a taste of the races from Myrra, Citizen's D20 campaign world, and a quick look at some rules from MAFIA: The Organized Crime RPG. The site's free download section will be receiving a regular influx of new game materials, so all in all, now's a good time to meet the citizens of Citizen Games. Yahtzee Going D20
09:27 AM: Demian Katz says... It appears that Deep7 has found the bands they were looking for, as they have just announced the impending release of the CD-ROM-based second edition of their simple, cinematic horror role-playing game, Shriek. The new edition will contain all the fast-playing goodness of the original, but it will feature a better layout, more scenarios, nifty graphics and a full rock soundtrack featuring several lesser-known but promising groups! No exact release date is available yet, but whenever it arrives, the disc will cost $6.95, which seems quite reasonable.
11:46 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... New company Mongoose Publishing is heading in a different direction with their D&D 3 supplements: highly detailed guides of one monster race. Called the Slayer's Guides, each book will fully explore one creature type, both for the players' benefit and the DM's. The first of these guides, The Slayer's Guide to Hobgoblins, will arrive in July, followed by the Guides to Gnolls and Centaurs in August, and to Kobolds in September. FASA's End Draws Closer The DMG Saga Continues
10:46 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Battleplay.com has just announced the release of Doubloon Lagoon, a desktop published game to download, print and play. Every aspect of pirating on the high seas is built into the game, as well as some mystical artifacts and sea monsters. Okay, sing it with me now: Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me... Today at Wizards
09:47 AM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Our latest review is of Drakon, by Fantasy Flight Games. I finally pulled myself away from the playtesting to finish it up. Can you tell I enjoyed it?
11:53 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... In case I hadn't mentioned it already, you can now cast your vote for this year's Origins Awards. If you play games at all, you should give the nominees a look.
11:20 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... Pinnacle has a new update on their D20 adaptation of Deadlands. Included therein is a .pdf preview of the Gunslinger class, which will look familiar to both D&D and Deadlands players. That's precisely what Pinnacle is going for. In fact, the folks at PEG are getting such a great response from their D20 preparations that they plan to include stats for both systems, Deadlands and D20, in all their future Weird West books. Just goes to show that sometimes you can have your lead and eat it too. Who You Gonna Call?
11:20 PM: Allan Sugarbaker says... This week, Misguided Games reveals another race to us from their upcoming dieselpunk fantasy RPG, Children of the Sun. This time the Banfilidh, a race of "pixie-like plant creatures" take center stage. Freeport and Folios Adkison Disputes Wizards Story
04:16 AM: Demian Katz says... Although the Galloglass Games edition of HellRail, a rather unconventional rail-building game, sold out last December, a new version is on the way. According to Diamond Comic Distributers, Inc., it is now possible to pre-order the latest edition, this time published by Mayfair Games. Soon enough, the damned shall be flowing smoothly along efficient rail networks once more... |
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